Upon our arrival to Kenya back in October, there were MANY things which were new, different or strange to us. Over the past 7 months of living here, these differences have become more like second nature to us. Things like pasteurizing milk, making sour cream from buttermilk, walking as the primary mode of transportation, hanging our laundry on the line, growing herbs and veggies in the backyard, going “to town” for major grocery shopping, having “chai” (tea) time every morning, and the list goes on.
One thing that we hadn’t experienced yet happened a couple days ago….
The RVA staff has been notified many times about needs for donated blood down at Kijabe Hospital. The emails will tell us of the type of blood needed and to respond if able to donate. I have never been aware of a need for mine or Michael’s blood type, and to be honest, neither one of us does well with having blood drawn. On Monday at 12:15pm we were notified of a pregnant woman with very low platelets who needed to have an emergency c-sect
ion. She needed our blood type and one of us needed to come right then. Michael finished class at 12:20pm and walked straight to the hospital lab where an RVA nurse was waiting to get him set up to give blood right away. The reality of this “life-saving” gesture for a mother and her baby (and the Coca-Cola they gave him afterward) made it worth the slight anxiety, missing lunch and almost passing out in the chair.
Among the Nations 